Tag: Nursing

It’s one of the oldest catch-22s in the world. In order to get a good job, you need experience, but in order to get experience, you have to get a job. What is a newly graduated nurse to do in order to break into the field?

While you might not be able to jump right into your desired specialty, there are ways to get paying nursing jobs even when you don’t have years of experience. You simply have to know where and what to look for and be prepared to accept a position that might not be exactly what you had in mind. Continue reading “Finding Nursing Jobs with No Experience”

The new year’s arrival allows us to reorganize our lives and start working toward making lots of positive changes. As in any profession, nursing has a few bad habits that are easy to fall into. While you’re getting other areas of your life in order with the start of the new year, take a little time to examine your personal practices at work and make sure that you’re staying out of the fray and not falling into these common traps. Continue reading “5 Bad Habits Every Nurse Needs to Avoid”

Finding an exciting, fast-paced career is important for many people. Nursing often provides the adrenaline rush that fuels these personality types, allowing them to handle life-or-death situations and intense problem-solving challenges. Sometimes, however, your typical nursing assignment just isn’t quite enough for the die-hard adrenaline junkie. If you’re looking for an exciting change in your career, nursing specialties like these can keep your heart pounding and your mind constantly challenged. Continue reading “Exciting Career Moves for Nurses”

It seems that one natural disaster after another is taking place, from multiple hurricanes battering the US and Caribbean islands to major earthquakes devastating communities. The people left reeling in these disaster-stricken areas all have a serious need for the help and skills of nurses. There is often a larger than normal medical need in the areas surrounding a disaster, and some nurses may be unable to work due to their own personal circumstances. Continue reading “Using Your Nursing Skills in a Crisis”

A few weeks ago, there was a story all over the news and social media, featuring a video of a nurse being taken into custody after refusing to allow blood to be drawn from an unconscious patient. In the video, a police officer was demanding that he be allowed to draw blood from the patient who was under her care, though he had no warrant to override direct consent from the patient, which he was unable to give. The officer became irate at her refusal, though she explained that it was her job to protect the rights of her patient, and placed her in handcuffs.

In the end, the nurse came out as the hero, and there was an investigation of the officer who was wrongfully asking for the blood sample and wrongfully placed her into custody. It was a dramatic scenario and quite frightening to any medical professional who cares about their patients, even though the final outcome was positive.

At some hospitals, this has caused serious discussion about the place of nurses and other care providers in being the point of contact with the police. Changes are being made at some facilities to remove those directly responsible for patient care from the equation so they are no longer required to interact with the police. If your facility is not one of these, it is important to know how to protect yourself and your patients in similar scenarios. Continue reading “Protecting Yourself while Protecting Your Patients”

Patient satisfaction is important to any practice, and often that satisfaction begins with a clock that starts ticking the moment they walk in the door. Just as your time is important to you, your patients’ time is important to them, and you want to do everything in your power to make them feel as if that time is respected by your practice.

One of the biggest complaints that most of the general public has when visiting any physician is the time spent waiting for their appointment. While there are always emergencies and issues that arise, with some best practices in place, you can reduce wait times and leave the majority of your patients feeling more satisfied with their appointment. Continue reading “Improving Patient Wait Times”